Acacia from the Greek 'akakia' and derived from 'ake' or 'akis' meaning a sharp point or thorn and 'akazo' meaning to sharpen. Dioscorides, the Greek physician and botanist used the word in the 1st century AD for the Egyptian thorn tree, Acacia arabica. Euthycarpa from the Greek 'euthus' meaning straight and 'karpos' meaning fruit, referring to its straight sides.

Distribution:

Found in the lower region of South Australia from Mount Finke, Gawler Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, the Barossa, south to Goolwa, and eastwards through the Murray Mallee. Also found in Victoria.

Status:

Native. Common in South Australia. Common in Victoria.

Plant description:

Shrub to 4 m tall, occasionally a small tree to 10 m. New shoots glabrous. Leaves narrowly linear to oblanceolate to 100 mm long and 6 mm wide, flat to terete with a curved point. Usually green to grey-green glabrous, sometimes scurfy. Inflorescences axillary racemes with 2–4 globular, golden flower-heads.

Place the pods in a tray and leave to dry for 1-2 weeks or until the pods begin to split. Then rub the dried pods to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate any unwanted material. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place.

Seed viability:

From three collections, the seed viability was high, ranging from 85% to 95%.

Seed germination:

This species has physical dormancy that needs to be overcome for the seed to germinate (e.g. nicking or softening the seed coat).

Seeds stored:

Location

No. of seeds(weight grams)

Numberof plants

Datecollected

Collection numberCollection location

Datestored

% Viability

Storagetemperature

BGA MSB

94029402

20

26-Nov-2003

MKJ 6Murray

1-Sep-2004

90%

+5°C, -18°C

BGA MSB

13800 (220.36 g)13900 (223 g)

>60

9-Nov-2004

MKJ40Eyre Peninsula

31-Mar-2006

95%

-18°C

Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.